Vegetables should be cooked in as little water as possible; the better way is to steam them. So much of the valuable salts are washed out by boiling in too much water.
All vegetables left over can be warmed again, either in a cream sauce, or put in a double boiler and steamed, adding a little more butter.
When pepper is used, it should always be white pepper, especially in white sauces and soups.
Never salt vegetables until they are nearly cooked; it hardens them.
The water vegetables are boiled in may be utilized in making sauces and soups; the best of the vegetables goes into it.
The water Jerusalem artichokes are boiled in becomes quite a thick jelly when cold, and makes an excellent foundation for sauces.
TO BOIL POTATOES.
Select potatoes of uniform size, wash and pare thinly, cover with boiling water and cook half an hour; when nearly done add salt. As soon as done drain from the water and set the saucepan where the potatoes can steam for a few minutes. They should be served immediately, and never allowed to remain in the water a moment after they are cooked. Potatoes are much better steamed with their skins on than boiled, as they then retain all the potashes. When they are old they should be washed, pared and covered with cold water, and allowed to stand for several hours before either boiling or frying.
POTATOES BAKED.
Select them of uniform size, wash and scrub well, cut a thin slice from each end to prevent their being soggy. They require nearly an hour to bake in a moderate oven.
TO MASH POTATOES.
Boil the potatoes carefully, drain from the water, mash fine, and to four good-sized potatoes add a heaping tablespoonful of butter, a tablespoonful or two of cream or rich milk and salt and pepper to taste. Serve at once. They must be freshly mashed and very hot to be eatable. The mashed potatoes maybe squeezed through a vegetable ricer, when they are called Potatoes À la Neige.
NEW POTATOES WITH CREAM SAUCE.
Select rather small potatoes of uniform size and boil. When done drain off the water, set them back on the stove to keep hot while making a cream sauce, then put them carefully in a vegetable dish, pour the sauce over them and sprinkle with a little finely minced parsley.
BROILED POTATOES.
Take some cold boiled potatoes and cut them in rather thick slices lengthwise, dust with white pepper and salt, dip each slice in melted butter, broil over a clear fire until a nice brown. Serve with melted butter and finely minced parsley poured over them.
POTATOES À LA CRÊME AU GRATIN.
Chop cold boiled potatoes, put them in a baking dish, pour over them a cupful of white sauce nicely seasoned, sprinkle with a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan cheese or Edam cheese grated, one tablespoonful of bread crumbs, and dot all over with tiny bits of butter. Put in a quick oven for a few minutes to brown. Do not leave it in too long, or it will become dry.
STUFFED POTATOES.
Bake some medium-sized potatoes; when done cut in half lengthwise, scoop out the inside, taking care not to break the skin. Mash the potato smooth and fine with butter and a little milk, season with salt and pepper to taste, heat thoroughly, fill the skins, brush the tops over with melted butter, brown in the oven and serve.
POTATO FRICASSEE.
Put in a spider a generous tablespoonful of butter and a cup of milk, when hot add some cold potatoes cut in dice, season with pepper, salt, a few drops of onion juice. Let them get thoroughly hot, then add the beaten yolks of two eggs, stir constantly until thick. Great care must be taken not to let it cook too long, or the sauce will curdle. Pour into a vegetable dish, sprinkle a little finely minced parsley over the top and serve.
POTATOES À LA DUCHESSE.
Take cold mashed potatoes that are nicely seasoned with salt and pepper, form into little round cakes, put them on a tin, glaze over with beaten egg and brown in the oven. Arrange on a platter, garnish with parsley and serve.
SARATOGA CHIPS.
Peel some medium-sized white potatoes, and slice them very thin. It is better to have a potato slicer for these, if possible, as it cuts them so quickly and perfectly. Wash the potatoes in one or two waters, then cover with fresh water and lay a lump of ice on the top of them. Let them stand an hour, if convenient, drain in a colander, wipe dry with a towel, and fry in boiling fat—not too many at a time in the basket or they will stick together, and will not brown. Have a quick fire, and fry until brown and crisp, drain on paper, sprinkle with salt and serve.
FRENCH FRIED POTATOES.
Peel some potatoes and cut in finger lengths, not too thick, cover with ice water, and if they are old it is better to let them stand two hours. Drain, wipe dry, and fry in boiling fat as Saratoga chips—not too many at a time. When they are a nice brown lift the basket from the fat, sprinkle with salt, shake the grease from them and remove with a skimming spoon, drain on paper and serve at once.
POTATOES À LA MAÎTRE D'HÔTEL.
Cut cold boiled potatoes in round slices, not too thick, put in a saucepan with some melted butter, pepper and salt. When they are hot add some lemon juice and a little minced parsley and serve.
POTATOES LYONNAISE.
Fry a little onion cut in thin slices in plenty of butter; when a delicate brown add some cold boiled potatoes cut in slices of medium thickness, mixing them with the onion by tossing them together rather than stirring, as this breaks them. Cook until a nice color, drain them, put in a dish and sprinkle a little minced parsley over them.
POTATOES À LA PARISIENNE.
Peel and wash some potatoes, scoop out into little balls with a potato scoop, which is made for the purpose. Boil for five minutes, put in melted butter in a saucepan until each potato is well covered with the butter, turn them into a pan, and brown in the oven. Turn out on a dish and sprinkle with minced parsley and a little salt.
POTATOES CREAMED AND BROWNED.
Take a pint of cold boiled potatoes, cut into dice of uniform size. Have ready a pint of cream sauce, toss the potatoes in this, season with salt and white pepper to taste, put in a baking dish, sprinkle with dried bread crumbs and a tablespoonful of American Edam cheese. A few drops of onion juice, if liked, may be added before putting the potatoes into the dish. Set it in the oven a few minutes, until it becomes a golden brown and serve. Do not let it stand in the oven long or it will dry.
POTATO PUFF.
Two cupfuls of smoothly mashed boiled or baked potatoes, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, two well-beaten whites of eggs, a cupful of sweet cream or rich milk. Stir the melted butter into the potato, then add the eggs and cream, season with salt and pepper, turn into a buttered baking dish, bake in a quick oven and serve in the dish in which it is baked.
WHITE POTATO CROQUETTES.
Boil and mash very fine four medium sized potatoes. Put half a cup of rich milk and a generous heaping tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan over the fire. When the milk comes to a boil, stir in the mashed potatoes, season with pepper and salt to taste, mix thoroughly and add the white of an egg beaten to a stiff froth, remove from the fire, turn out on a plate to cool, then make up in small cylinders, dip in beaten egg, roll in cracker crumbs and fry a delicate brown in boiling fat.
POTATO PAPA (a Mexican Dish).
Wash, pare and boil one dozen small white potatoes, mash while hot and add to them half a cup of raisins stoned and chopped very fine, twenty large Queen olives stoned and chopped fine, one tablespoonful of parsley finely minced, an even teaspoonful of sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix all well together, form into an oblong shape, leaving the top rough. Brown a little butter in a spider, put the papa into it, and after a few moments' frying scatter little lumps of butter over the top and set in the oven to brown. Garnish with parsley and hard-boiled eggs cut in quarters lengthwise.
SWEET POTATOES FRIED RAW.
Peel two or three medium-sized potatoes and cut in slices about a quarter of an inch thick, fry in boiling fat—when they are a nice brown they are done—drain on paper for a moment before serving.
COOKED SWEET POTATOES FRIED.
Take several sweet potatoes cut in slices lengthwise, not too thin. Dip each slice in melted butter and then in brown sugar, and fry in a little butter.
SWEET POTATOES MASHED AND BROWNED.
Boil three sweet potatoes of medium size until done. Peel and squeeze through the patent vegetable strainer, add a heaping tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to taste, and enough milk to make very soft. Put in a baking dish, dot it over with tiny bits of butter and bake until brown. Serve in the dish in which it is baked. If any is left over remove the thin brown skin, make the potato into small, flat cakes and brown on both sides in a little butter in a spider.
SWEET POTATO CROQUETTES.
Three medium-sized potatoes baked and mashed very fine and beaten to a cream with one generous tablespoonful of butter, three tablespoonfuls of cream, one teaspoonful of sugar, a little salt, one teaspoonful of lemon juice, a saltspoonful of cinnamon and one egg yolk beaten very light, and add at the last the white of egg whipped to a stiff froth. Form into cones or cylinders, dip in beaten egg and bread crumbs and fry in boiling fat. Drain on kitchen paper, sift a little sugar over them and serve at once.
BRUSSELS SPROUTS.
Pick off any leaves that may be discolored and wash well a quart of Brussels sprouts, put into a saucepan with two quarts of boiling water and a saltspoonful of soda. Boil rapidly until tender—about half an hour—just before they are done add a tablespoonful of salt. Drain them in a colander, and if it is not time to serve them stand the colander over steam to keep them hot. Do not let them remain in the water. When ready to serve put the sprouts in a vegetable dish and pour over them a pint of rich cream sauce.
OKRA AND TOMATOES.
A quart of fresh or canned tomatoes—if fresh, skin in the usual way—cut them in quarters and put over the fire, let them boil until a great deal of the water has evaporated, then add a pint of fresh okra, cut in slices, cook until tender, season with a generous heaping tablespoonful of butter, and pepper and salt to taste.
BEETS.
Wash the beets carefully to avoid breaking the skin, and do not cut off the fine roots, as this will bleed and spoil them. Put on in boiling water and cook from an hour and a half to three hours. Test with a wooden skewer. Cut in slices or dice and serve with melted butter, pepper and salt. Winter beets should be soaked over night.
PURÉE OF PEAS.
When peas are old this is a very nice way to use them. Put a quart of shelled peas over the fire in sufficient boiling water to cook them. Boil until tender, drain from the water, press through a purÉe sieve, season with salt and pepper to taste, and a good heaping tablespoonful of butter, and if too dry a little milk or cream may be used.
PURÉE OF LIMA BEANS
may be prepared in the same way.
PURÉE OF CUCUMBERS.
Peel and slice the cucumbers and put them over the fire in as little boiling water as will cook them; when tender drain from the water, press through a purÉe sieve, season with salt and pepper and add a tablespoonful of butter.
STUFFED CUCUMBERS.
Peel two large, fine cucumbers, cut in half lengthwise, take out the seeds. Scrape out carefully the soft part—with a small spoon—into a saucepan. Peel and core a tart apple, chop fine with a small pickled gherkin, take from this a good tablespoonful for the sauce and put one side, then add the rest to the soft part of the cucumbers in the saucepan. Let it simmer until tender, then add butter the size of an egg, pepper and salt to taste, a few drops of onion juice, or the spoon used for stirring the mixture may be rubbed with garlic, three tablespoonfuls of grated bread crumbs, one egg beaten, stir all together, and remove at once from the fire. Put the cucumbers in a saucepan, cover with boiling water and cook gently until tender—about ten or fifteen minutes; when nearly done add a tablespoonful of salt, drain from the water, when cool enough stuff them with the dressing already prepared and press into shape, brush with egg, sprinkle bread crumbs over the top and a few tiny lumps of butter, place carefully in a pan and bake a delicate brown. For the Sauce, take the tablespoonful of apple and pickle reserved from the stuffing, and add a teaspoonful of capers, chop all together as fine as possible, make a cream sauce and add this mixture to it on the fire and heat thoroughly. Place the cucumbers carefully on a platter and pour the sauce around them.
CUCUMBERS STUFFED WITH MUSHROOMS.
Peel two large, firm cucumbers, and cut in half lengthwise; take out the seeds. Take a quarter of a pound of fresh mushrooms, skin and stem them. Chop the mushroom flaps very fine, put them in a spider with four tablespoonfuls of melted butter and a very little water, cover and cook until tender. Remove from the fire, stir in four heaping tablespoonfuls of grated bread crumbs, salt and pepper to taste, a few drops of onion juice, and the yolk of one egg. Stuff the cucumbers with this dressing, put the halves together, fasten with wooden toothpicks or tie with string. Place in a small dish that will fit in the steamer, cover closely, and steam until tender—about three-quarters of an hour—and serve with a brown sauce made as follows:
The Sauce.—Put on the skins and stems of the mushrooms in boiling water. Fry a few slices each of carrot, celery top, green pepper, onion and turnip in butter, strain the water from the mushroom stems into this and stew until all are tender, strain, add a generous tablespoonful of butter and enough flour to thicken the sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Place the cucumbers in a shallow vegetable dish, remove the strings and pour the sauce around them.
ESCALLOPED EGG PLANT.
Boil a small egg plant, cut it in half, take out the pulp, throwing away the seeds and skin, chop the pulp fine and mix with it half a teaspoonful of bread crumbs, one cup of cream or rich milk, butter the size of an egg, an even teaspoonful of finely minced parsley, pepper and salt to taste, and a few drops of onion juice. Beat all together, turn into a baking dish, cover the top with dried bread crumbs and tiny bits of butter and bake until brown. Serve in the dish in which it is baked. If any is left over, cut in slices half an inch thick and fry in butter for luncheon.
STUFFED EGG PLANT.
Take half a large egg plant, boil gently until tender, remove from the fire, take out the pulp carefully so as not to break the shell, leaving it about a quarter of an inch thick. Peel and stem a quarter of a pound of fresh mushrooms, chop very fine, reserve a heaping tablespoonful of this for the sauce, then add the pulp of the egg plant to the mushrooms in the chopping bowl, and one heaping tablespoonful of currants, washed and picked over, one even teaspoonful of grated onion, one even teaspoonful of chopped green pepper, five heaping tablespoonfuls of grated bread crumbs, four tablespoonfuls of melted butter, two tablespoonfuls of rich cream. Mix all well together, fill the shell with this mixture, press it into shape and bind carefully with string. Bake twenty minutes, remove the string and serve on a platter with the sauce poured around it.
The Sauce.—Put on the skins and stems of the mushrooms in a saucepan, cover with boiling water, cook until tender, drain, and into this water put the tablespoonful of reserved mushrooms, add salt and pepper to taste, boil a few minutes, then add a heaping teaspoonful of flour stirred into a heaping tablespoonful of butter, let all cook together until thick, and pour around the egg plant.
GREEN CORN CAKES.
One quart of grated corn, one teacup of butter melted, four tablespoonfuls of flour, two eggs, and salt and pepper to taste. Bake as griddle cakes and serve at once. These cakes are very good made of canned corn. Pound the corn in a mortar and press through a sieve.
CORN PUDDING.
Four large ears of corn grated, or a can of corn prepared as for corn cakes, one heaping tablespoonful of butter, one teaspoonful of flour, one teaspoonful of sugar, one whole egg and one yolk. Melt the butter and stir into the corn, beat the eggs and add with one pint of milk, the sugar and flour, and salt and pepper to taste. Bake in a shallow dish in a moderate oven from twenty minutes to half an hour. If it bakes too long, it becomes watery.
MOCK OYSTERS OF GREEN CORN.
A pint of grated corn, a cup of flour, one egg, two ounces of butter, three tablespoonfuls of milk, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and drop from a spoon in oblong cakes—to look as much like oysters as possible—into hot butter, fry brown on both sides. Serve on a platter and garnish with parsley. These may also be made of canned corn by pressing it through a colander with a potato masher to separate the hulls from it.
CORN BOILED ON THE COB.
Husk the corn and remove the silk, put in a kettle, and cover with boiling water. If the corn is young, it will cook in from five to ten minutes, as it is only necessary to set the milk. It should be served at once in a folded napkin.
CURRY OF CORN.
A can of corn, one good tart cooking apple, one tomato, a teaspoonful of finely chopped green pepper, a teaspoonful of grated onion, a teaspoonful of curry powder, a tablespoonful of chopped Brazil or English walnuts, two tablespoonfuls of butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Put the butter in a spider, when it bubbles add the apple cut in dice and onion, fry brown, then stir in the curry powder, the chopped pepper and tomato and nuts, let all simmer together for a few minutes, then add the corn, and cook gently for twenty minutes. If it is too thick a little water must be added. Serve in a shallow vegetable dish or on a platter. Fresh corn may be used. Boil and then cut from the cob, cook the cobs in the water the corn was boiled in long enough to extract all the good from them, and use this broth for the curry.
CROQUETTES OF SALSIFY AND CELERIAC.
Two roots of salsify and one large celeriac. Wash and scrape them well. Cut in pieces and cover with vinegar and water and let them stand one hour—this will prevent them from turning dark. Pour off the vinegar and water and nearly cover them with boiling water, cook until very tender, mash fine and smooth, season with pepper and salt, and a few drops of onion juice, put in a saucepan over the fire, and add a tablespoonful of butter, two tablespoonfuls of milk, and just before removing from the fire add a tablespoonful of cream and one egg, stir well, turn out into a bowl and set aside to cool. When cold make into croquettes, dip in egg and cracker crumbs and fry in a basket in boiling oil.
INDIAN CURRY OF VEGETABLES.
Equal quantities of cauliflower and potatoes, raw. The cauliflower cut into flowerettes and the potatoes into dice. Put them into a spider with a heaping tablespoonful of butter, a rounded teaspoonful of curry powder, and let them simmer for a few minutes without taking color. Then add two tablespoonfuls of tomatoes, an even teaspoonful of grated onion and one of chopped green pepper, fill up the spider with boiling water, and set it back on the stove where it will stew gently until the vegetables are tender and the water has been reduced to one-third the quantity. It should be as thick as ordinary gravy; if not, add a scant teaspoonful of flour. Just before it is done stir in a heaping tablespoonful of butter. Turn it into a shallow vegetable dish and serve very hot. The spider should be kept covered while the curry is cooking. It is very good without the green pepper. This may be warmed over, and is better the second day than the first.
KOHLRABI.
Peel them, cut in slices and pour on just enough boiling water to cook them. Cook until tender. When nearly done add salt. Make a cream sauce, season with white pepper, salt and a little grated nutmeg, if liked, toss them in this sauce, let it boil up once and serve very hot.
MARROWFAT BEANS BAKED.
Pick over carefully and wash one quart of beans, soak in water over night. In the morning drain, add fresh cold water and bring to a boil, drain again, and turn them into a four-quart stone jar, put in a generous cup of butter, two large tablespoonfuls of Porto Rico molasses, two tablespoonfuls of salt, less than a teaspoonful of pepper, and fill the jar with boiling water. Put in the oven, covering the jar with a tin cover. It must be cooked in a slow oven eight or nine hours—the water ought to last until the beans are perfectly cooked, and when done a good gravy left, about a third of the depth of the beans in the jar. Beans cooked in this way are very nutritious and easily digested. Keep them covered for two or three hours while cooking. Serve with Chili sauce.
BAYO OR MEXICAN BEANS.—No. 1.
Put one cup of Bayo or Mexican red beans to soak over night, in the morning drain off the water and put them in a saucepan with plenty of fresh water, let them cook for two hours, drain again, and add to them three fresh tomatoes, skinned and cut small, or a cup of canned tomatoes, and half an onion cut as small as the beans, then cover with boiling water and cook for one hour. Then stir in a very generous tablespoonful of butter, and salt and pepper to taste.
Soak over night a pint of beans and boil as in recipe No. 1 until soft. Then melt a tablespoonful of butter in a spider; when it bubbles put in a small onion chopped very fine, and fry a delicate brown. Drain the beans and turn them into the spider, add a cup of boiling water and stir until the water becomes thick like cream.
EMPARADAS (a Mexican Recipe).
Take some beans cooked as in Mexican Beans No. 1 and mash them to a paste. Then roll out some puff paste very thin—about the sixth of an inch—cut this into rounds with a large patty cutter, put a spoonful of the bean purÉe on the half of each round, wet the edges of the pastry, cover, press the edges together, making a half moon, brush them over with beaten egg and bake in a hot oven, or they may be fried in boiling oil or fat until a delicate brown.
FRIJOLES FRITOS.
A pint of beans cooked as in recipe for Bayo or Mexican Beans No. 1. Rub them smooth in a mortar, put them into a spider with a quarter of a cup of butter and fry for a few minutes, then add half a cup of grated Parmesan cheese, mix thoroughly and serve hot.
BROILED MUSHROOMS.
Select large flap mushrooms for broiling. Wash, skin and stem them, lay them on a dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper and pour a little olive oil over each mushroom, let them stand one hour. Broil on a gridiron over a nice clear fire. Place on a dish and serve with the following sauce: Prepare the stock as before by boiling the stems and skins in water and then straining. Mince two or three mushrooms fine, add to the stock, with a teaspoonful of minced parsley, a few drops of onion juice, a small lump of butter, cook for fifteen minutes, then add a cupful of cream, an even teaspoonful of flour wet with some of the cream and rubbed smooth. Let it all cook together for three minutes, then add the beaten yolk of an egg, stir well, remove from the fire at once and serve.
MUSHROOMS ON TOAST.
Half a pound of mushrooms, wash, stem and skin as before. Cut into dice, put in a saucepan with the juice of half a lemon, a tablespoonful of butter and a slice of onion, a sprig of parsley and one clove, tied together in a thin muslin bag. Set the saucepan on the fire and stew gently until nearly dry, then add water almost to cover them, salt and pepper to taste, and let them cook fifteen minutes. Take out the bag of onion, etc., and thicken with one egg yolk well beaten, and a small cupful of cream. Have some slices of toast on a platter, buttered and moistened with a little hot milk, pour the mushrooms over them, garnish with parsley and serve hot.
MUSHROOMS STEWED IN A CREAM SAUCE.
Make a pint of cream sauce, prepare half a pound of mushrooms as in the preceding recipe, cut into dice, and stew in the sauce until very tender. Have the toast prepared as above and pour the mushrooms over it. Garnish with parsley and serve at once. They may be served in pastry shells as an entrÉe, if preferred.
TOMATOES STUFFED WITH MUSHROOMS.—No. 1.
Wash, skin and stem half a pound of mushrooms, chop very fine, add two even teaspoonfuls of finely minced parsley, a few drops of lemon juice, the same of onion juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Melt two tablespoonfuls of butter in a saucepan and cook all together in this until the mushrooms are tender, then add a cupful of stale bread crumbs and one egg yolk, stir well and remove from the fire. Have half a dozen perfectly ripe tomatoes, washed and wiped, cut a slice from the top of each, take out the core and seeds, and fill with the mushroom stuffing. Bake in a moderate oven until done. The skins should be removed in the usual way before stuffing.
TOMATOES STUFFED WITH MUSHROOMS.—No. 2.
Wash and wipe the tomatoes, but do not remove the skins. Cut in half, take out the core and a few of the seeds. Fill with the same forcemeat as in the preceding recipe and cover the top with it, place in a pan with a little water to keep from burning, bake in a moderate oven until soft, remove carefully from the pan, place on a platter, garnish with parsley and serve.
ESCALLOPED TOMATOES.
Strain from a quart can of tomatoes one cupful of water. Put a layer of the tomatoes in a baking dish, season with salt, pepper and a little sugar, cover with a layer of bread crumbs, dot freely with bits of butter, then put another layer of tomatoes, and lastly a layer of bread crumbs, with bits of butter, and sprinkle with a dessertspoonful of sugar. Bake forty-five minutes, and serve in the dish in which it is baked.
TOMATOES WITH EGG.
Drain the water from a can of tomatoes, press them through a colander, put into a saucepan over the fire, season with salt and pepper, a little sugar, if acid, and a few drops of onion juice. Let them cook a little, and just before serving add the well-beaten yolks of two eggs, stir well until it thickens, and remove immediately from the fire or it will curdle.
FRENCH CARROTS IN BROWN SAUCE.
Select the smallest French carrots, wash and scrape them and boil until tender in as little water as possible. When done drain from the water, using it to make the sauce. Put a tablespoonful of butter into a spider, when hot stir in a tablespoonful of flour, stir until a dark brown, add gradually the water the carrots were boiled in, season with salt and pepper, simmer until thick and smooth, add the carrots, and when hot serve.
FRENCH CARROTS AND PEAS.
Take a pint of young peas and two bunches of French carrots, cut in slices or fancy shapes (stars or clover leaves), cook each vegetable by itself in as little water as will cook them. When they are both tender put them together into a saucepan, add a heaping tablespoonful of butter and half a tablespoonful of flour rubbed together, and if there is not enough water left, add enough to make a gravy. Canned instead of fresh peas may be used; drain the water from the peas and stew the carrots in it, and follow the recipe as above.
SPINACH PUDDING.
Make a sauce of one ounce and a half of butter, one ounce of flour, a scant half cup of rich milk, half a teaspoonful of sugar, a grating of nutmeg, if liked, and salt and pepper to taste. When this comes to a boil, add an even cupful of spinach that has been cooked and finely chopped, and from which the water has been well pressed out. Remove from the stove, and stir into it two beaten eggs. Grease a mould, sprinkle it with dried and sifted bread crumbs, turn the pudding into this, set the mould in a pan of hot water, put in the oven, cover it to prevent browning and bake nearly three-quarters of an hour. Turn out on a platter, have ready a cream sauce to pour around the pudding, garnish with hard-boiled eggs, cut in quarters lengthwise, and parsley. If any is left over, cut in slices, and warm over in a cream sauce and serve for luncheon. It will keep for days.
SPINACH BALLS.
Put a slightly heaping tablespoonful of butter, a tablespoonful of cream, and half a teaspoonful of sugar into a saucepan on the stove, mix well, and when it boils add a heaping tablespoonful of flour—as much as will stay on the spoon—let it come to a boil, and then add three-quarters of a cup of cooked and finely chopped spinach, beat well and remove from the fire. When cold add two eggs, one at a time, season with salt and pepper to taste and half a saltspoonful of powdered mace. Have a saucepan of boiling water, slightly salted, on the stove; dip a tablespoon in cold water, and then take up enough of the spinach mixture to make an oblong cake, in shape like an egg cut in half lengthwise, then dip the spoon in the boiling water and let the cake float off. Use all the mixture in this way. The balls will cook in four or five minutes, and they must not boil too fast or they will break. Let them drain in a colander while making a cream sauce, and when the sauce is made put the balls into it and let them come to a boil, turn out on a platter and garnish with parsley.
TOMATOES AND MUSHROOMS.
Put on a pint of tomatoes in a saucepan and cook for fifteen or twenty minutes until nearly all the water has evaporated, season with salt and pepper, add a generous tablespoonful of butter, a tablespoonful of bread crumbs and half a pint of fresh mushrooms chopped fine. Cook until the mushrooms are tender. Have some bread cut in nice slices toasted and slightly moistened with warm milk. Pour the tomatoes and mushrooms over it and serve very hot.
TO BOIL RICE PLAIN.
Wash half a cupful of rice, drain from the water, have on the fire a very large saucepan nearly full of salted boiling water. Turn the rice into this and boil hard for twenty minutes, pour all into a colander, drain well, and put the rice in a smaller saucepan on the back of the stove, where it will be kept warm, without cooking, until all the moisture has evaporated. Then serve.
CAULIFLOWER WITH DRAWN BUTTER.
Select a nice white cauliflower, take off all the leaves, and cut enough of the stem off to allow it to stand well in the dish it is to be served in. Put it into a saucepan, cover with boiling water, and when it is nearly done add salt, as cooking it long with salt turns it brown. The usual time to cook a cauliflower is about twenty minutes. Try it with a fork, and if it is tender remove carefully from the water, let it drain in a colander while preparing a drawn butter. Then put into a hot vegetable dish, pour the sauce over and serve.
For the Drawn Butter.—Melt a large heaping tablespoonful of butter, and stir into it a heaping teaspoonful of flour, let them cook together without browning and add by degrees a cup of hot milk.
ESCALLOPED CAULIFLOWER.
Cut a cauliflower into flowerettes, cover with boiling water into a saucepan and cook until tender, let them drain in a colander while the sauce is being prepared. Make the usual cream sauce, enough to cover the cauliflower. When the sauce is done add two heaping tablespoonfuls of American Edam or grated Parmesan cheese, put the flowerettes into a baking dish, pour the sauce over them, sprinkle the top with a little of the cheese, and stand the dish in the oven for a few minutes to brown.
ESCALLOPED SPAGHETTINA.
Put a good half cupful of spaghettina, broken in bits, into a saucepan of boiling water with an even tablespoonful of salt, boil three-quarters of an hour, turn into a colander and let it drain while the sauce is being made. Prepare it exactly as for escalloped cauliflower and finish in the same way.
CHESTNUT PURÉE.
Shell some large imported chestnuts and put over the fire in boiling water, let them cook for a few minutes, rub the skins off, and cover again with fresh boiling water, boil until tender. Press through a sieve, and season with butter, pepper and salt.
PURÉE OF DRIED WHITE BEANS.
Pick over and wash a pint of beans and soak over night. In the morning drain off the water, put the beans into a saucepan with cold water to cover them, and cook until tender—a little more than an hour. Press through a sieve, add a generous tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to taste, put into a saucepan, make very hot and serve.
SQUASH PUDDING.
A large heaping cup of Hubbard squash, measured after it is baked and mashed smooth, a generous heaping tablespoonful of butter, melted and stirred into the squash, a heaping teaspoonful of flour mixed with four tablespoonfuls of milk and one egg beaten light, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and turn into a buttered pudding dish and bake about twenty minutes. Serve in the dish in which it is baked. If any is left over, make it up into little round cakes and brown in butter for luncheon.
SQUASH FRITTERS.
A heaping cupful of Hubbard squash baked and mashed, stir into it a heaping tablespoonful of butter, a heaping tablespoonful of flour, a cup of milk, salt and pepper to taste, and one egg beaten light. Mix well and bake or fry as griddle cakes.
SUMMER SQUASH.
Wash and peel two large summer squash, cut in small pieces and remove the seeds, cover with boiling water and cook until tender. Drain in a colander and press gently as much of the water out as possible with a potato masher, then mash through the colander into a saucepan, put it on the stove and let it cook until the squash is quite dry, taking care that it does not burn. Then add four heaping tablespoonfuls of butter, a teaspoonful of sugar, and salt and pepper to taste.
RICE CROQUETTES.
Put three-quarters of a cup of milk in a saucepan over the fire, with a generous tablespoonful of butter, a heaping teaspoonful of sugar, and when it comes to a boil add a cup and a half of boiled rice, a saltspoonful of powdered cinnamon or nutmeg, if preferred, and salt to taste. Mix well, let it come to a boil and add a beaten egg, remove from the fire, turn into a plate to get cold, form into cylinders and cook in boiling fat.
FRICASSEE OF CELERIAC.
Wash and peel the celery roots, cut them into dice and cook until tender in as little water as possible, and when nearly done add a little salt. Make a sauce of two tablespoonfuls of butter and one tablespoonful of flour cooked together until smooth without browning. Then add a cup of rich milk, and when this boils turn the celery dice with the water in which they were boiled into the sauce, season to taste with salt and pepper. When ready to serve beat one egg yolk with a tablespoonful of cream and stir carefully into it, remove at once from the fire, pour into a vegetable dish, sprinkle with a little parsley minced fine, and serve.
YELLOW TURNIP RAGOUT.
Take one large yellow turnip, peel, wash and wipe dry, cut in oblong pieces. Brown a good lump of butter in a spider, simmer the turnip slices in this until nicely browned, taking care not to burn them. Put all into a saucepan with only water enough to cook them tender, cover tightly, when done, brown a little butter and flour together to make the gravy the proper consistency, season with pepper and salt and serve.
TOMATOES STUFFED WITH CHEESE.
Cut six tomatoes in half, scoop out part of the inside and put this in a saucepan and cook until nearly all the water has been absorbed, then add half a teaspoonful of sugar, one heaping tablespoonful of butter, two heaping tablespoonfuls of grated cheese, two heaping tablespoonfuls of dried bread crumbs, pepper and salt to taste, and a few drops of onion juice. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt, pepper, a little sugar and grated cheese, then fill them with the dressing, dot them with tiny bits of butter and sift over them a few bread crumbs. Melt half a teaspoonful of butter in a baking pan, put the tomatoes in and bake twenty or twenty-five minutes. Take them out carefully when done, arrange on a dish, make a little gravy in the pan in which they were baked by adding a little more butter, half a cupful of milk, a heaping teaspoonful of flour, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve in a sauceboat.
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES.
Wash and peel a dozen artichokes, selecting them as nearly the same size as possible. Cover with boiling water and cook until tender, drain at once and pour over them a cream sauce, sprinkle a little finely chopped parsley over them and serve.
ASPARAGUS.
Scrape and wash as much asparagus as is needed, cut the stalks the same length, tie in bunches and put over the fire in boiling water, and when nearly done add a little salt. Boil until perfectly tender, drain, put in a dish, remove the strings and serve very hot with sauce Hollandaise or a simple cream sauce.
POINTES D'ASPERGES.
Cut off the tender green tips of asparagus about an inch and a half long, cover with boiling water and cook until tender. Add salt just before they are done. Drain and put the points into a saucepan with butter, salt and pepper and a few spoonfuls of cream or Hollandaise sauce, mix well and do not let it cook after the sauce is added. A little nutmeg may be used if liked. Serve very hot.
PURPLE CABBAGE WITH CHESTNUTS.
Shred fine as for cold slaw half a purple cabbage, put half of this into a saucepan, dot with a tablespoonful of butter, sprinkle over it a heaping tablespoonful of sugar, a slightly heaping tablespoonful of flour, a little salt and pepper, then the rest of the cabbage with the same quantity of butter, sugar, etc., as before, and pour over all a quarter of a cup of vinegar and a cupful of cold water. Cover tightly, let it cook slowly until done, put it where it will only simmer for two hours. If not sour enough add more vinegar. Be careful that it does not burn. Serve in a vegetable dish and garnish with large Italian chestnuts that have been boiled and blanched.
PARSNIP CROQUETTES WITH WALNUTS.
Take two good-sized parsnips, peel and cook them until tender in as little water as possible. When done press the water carefully from them and mash them smooth and fine through a colander, put them back into the saucepan over the fire again, and add to them two heaping tablespoonfuls of chopped walnut meats, a good heaping tablespoonful of butter and a tablespoonful of rich cream, stir well together and add at the last one egg well beaten. Remove from the fire and turn out on a plate to cool, then form into cylinders, dip in egg and bread crumbs and fry in boiling fat.
PARSNIPS FRIED.
Boil them until tender, cut them in slices lengthwise and fry brown in a little butter.
PARSNIP FRITTERS.
Wash and scrape them and cut in slices, cover them with boiling water, cook until tender, mash them through a colander, return them to the fire, add to two large parsnips, a tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to taste, and one egg beaten well. Mix thoroughly, remove from the fire, and when cool make into small flat cakes and fry in a little butter. Serve hot.
TO COOK STRING BEANS.
String thoroughly, cut in half, then in half lengthwise, throw into boiling water and let them come to a boil. Remove from the fire, drain, cover with cold water and let them stand in this until it is time to cook them, then drain again, cover with boiling water and cook for fifteen minutes, and when almost done add salt. When tender, drain, add a lump of butter, and salt and pepper to taste.
SPANISH ONIONS STUFFED.
Take two large Spanish onions, wash and skin and tie them to prevent breaking. Put them into a saucepan over the fire, cover with boiling water, cook until they can be pierced with a broom straw—from two to three hours, according to size. When done, drain and carefully take out the centers, leaving about a quarter of an inch for the shell. Have ready a stuffing made from a quarter of a pound of mushrooms prepared as before. Put these and the centers of the onions into a chopping bowl and chop very fine. Cook them together until the moisture from the onions has almost evaporated, then add a generous heaping tablespoonful of butter, a tablespoonful of rich cream, and three heaping tablespoonfuls of grated bread crumbs, salt and pepper to taste. Fill the onion shells with this mixture, smooth the tops nicely, sprinkle with bread crumbs, brush with egg and a little butter. Put in the oven and brown about ten minutes, and serve with the following sauce: Rub a generous heaping tablespoonful of butter and a heaping tablespoonful of flour together. Put a small teacup of milk into a saucepan on the fire, when hot stir in the butter and flour and a quarter of a pound of mushrooms prepared as before and chopped very fine, season with salt and pepper to taste. Place the onions on a platter and pour the sauce around them, garnish with parsley and serve.
STUFFED CELERIAC WITH SPANISH SAUCE.
Put over the fire in a saucepan three-quarters of a cup of rich milk and three ounces of butter, let them come to a boil, then add three ounces of dried and sifted bread crumbs and an even tablespoonful of flour. Let it cook, stirring all the time until it is a smooth paste and detaches itself from the sides of the pan, remove from the fire and set it aside to cool. When cold beat three eggs light, stir in a little at a time, beating well until the mixture is smooth and all the beaten egg used, then add a heaping teaspoonful of sugar, three heaping tablespoonfuls of walnut meats chopped fine, two tablespoonfuls of rich cream, and salt and pepper to taste. Take four large, fine celeriac roots, clean, scrub and scrape them. Cut off a slice from the top of each to make a cover, then with an apple corer remove the inside, taking care not to pierce the root, leave a shell a quarter of an inch thick. Fill each with the dressing, leaving fully half an inch at the top for it to swell. Place the cover on each, tie well the roots to prevent breaking in the cooking, stand them in a saucepan with water to reach not quite to the top of the roots, and put in all the celeriac removed from the roots, boil gently until tender—about an hour—adding boiling water from time to time as it evaporates. When they are tender take them out of the water and put them aside, keeping them hot. Strain the water they were boiled in, form what is left from the stuffing into small cylinders, boil five minutes in the strained stock, take them out and put with the roots to keep warm. Then take a generous tablespoonful of butter, an even tablespoonful of flour, brown them together in a spider, add two heaping tablespoonfuls of chopped walnuts and let them brown a little, then stir in gradually the stock the roots were boiled in and cook until it thickens. Arrange the roots in the center of the platter, the cylinders around them and pour the sauce over all. Garnish with parsley, putting a tiny sprig of celery leaves in the top of each root.
SPRING CABBAGE STEWED.
Cut the cabbage very small, throw into a saucepan, cover with boiling water, when nearly done add salt. Cook until tender, drain well in a colander. Make a rich cream sauce—it must be quite thick, as the cabbage will thin it—add a saltspoonful of mace, then the cabbage, let it come to a boil and serve.
SPRING CABBAGE WITH CREAM SAUCE.
Boil a young cabbage or part of one until perfectly tender, when done drain all the water from it in a colander, place in a vegetable dish and pour over it a rich cream sauce.
SPRING TURNIPS IN CREAM SAUCE.
Pare and cut into dice some young turnips, cook them tender in as little water as possible, salt when nearly done. Have ready a cream sauce, nicely seasoned, and after draining the turnips put them into the sauce, let them come to the boiling point and remove immediately from the fire, turn them into the serving dish, sprinkle a little finely chopped parsley over the top and serve. A tiny grain of mace added to the sauce is an improvement, but it must be used with great care.
WHITE BREAD BALLS.
Take four ounces of bread from which the crust has been removed, cut it into dice. Put half a cup of milk in a saucepan with two ounces of butter and a teaspoonful of sugar, let it come to a boil, then stir in the bread and continue stirring until it no longer cleaves to the pan, remove from the fire. When cool stir into it two eggs, one at a time, and a little salt. Cook in boiling water, as described for other balls, and serve in a cream sauce as a vegetable. (See spinach balls, page 74.)
NOODLES.
Beat the yolks of two eggs with a little salt and one tablespoonful of cold water and stir in enough flour to make a very stiff dough. Roll out as thin as paper and then roll it up; let it stand for an hour, and then cut fine with a sharp knife. These will keep any length of time, and can be used in soups, as a vegetable or in a pudding.
NOODLES À LA FERRARI.
Prepare the noodles as above, and cook in boiling salted-water from twenty to twenty-five minutes. Drain well. Have ready a tomato sauce, stir the noodles into it, turn into a baking dish, sprinkle well with grated Parmesan cheese and brown in a quick oven.
GNOCCHI À LA ROMAINE.
Put two ounces of butter in a saucepan over the fire with two tablespoonfuls of milk. When this comes to a boil stir in four ounces of flour; then add a cup of milk, let it cook, stirring all the time until it no longer adheres to the pan, remove from the fire, let it cool and then beat in three eggs, one at a time, two heaping tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese, a saltspoonful of mace and a dash of salt. Set it away to get cold, make it into small balls. Have a large saucepan of boiling, salted water on the stove, drop the balls into it and let them boil five minutes, take them out with a skimmer and drain well. Have ready a cream sauce, put the balls in this, and when they are hot turn into a baking dish, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake until brown in a quick oven.
